


probably didn't want to scare you

by thenewbacklog



Series: TMA Hurt/Comfort Week [5]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Coping, Developing Relationship, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Literal Sleeping Together, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, melanie's s4 recovery arc, mention of the bullet removal, mention of the flesh attack, navigating a new relationship and new trauma, or trying to anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27159182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewbacklog/pseuds/thenewbacklog
Summary: When they got ready for bed, Melanie delayed as long as she could. Georgie shot worried glances her way when she thought Melanie wasn’t looking.She pretended she couldn’t see. But she knew. Working at the Magnus Institute made you an expert in watching, in being watched.(Three times Melanie tried to sleep at Georgie's, after.)
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Melanie King
Series: TMA Hurt/Comfort Week [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894885
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	probably didn't want to scare you

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic I meant to finish and post during H/C Week. 
> 
> I have a headcanon about Melanie having a hard time sleeping later in s4, especially if someone else is in the room or she's somewhere easy to reach, so she sleeps best in corners (defensible, hard to access, pressure stim). Hence, fic.

Melanie hated to admit it, but she’d needed this.

She and Georgie spent the evening baking, then curled up together with flour in their hair and the Admiral on Georgie’s stomach until the alarm on Melanie’s phone jolted them out of the moment. Georgie barely looked up from her phone when Melanie went to check on the oven. It felt like trust, not being watched.

When they got ready for bed, Melanie delayed as long as she could. Georgie shot worried glances her way when she thought Melanie wasn’t looking.

She pretended she couldn’t see. But she knew. Working at the Magnus Institute made you an expert in watching, in being watched.

She’d never been so tense at Georgie’s before. Not when Melanie stayed after a night out, or the time they’d done a collab and lost track of time and agreed it just made sense for her to spend the night. It had felt natural for them to share space, making excuses for why they needed to until they gave up on the pretense.

Then they both changed, Melanie more than Georgie. And now here she was, lying in Georgie’s bed and ready for a fight that wasn’t going to happen.

Georgie didn’t mention it, and Melanie loved her a little for that. How the hell was she supposed to explain this without hurting her? She knew Georgie, knew there was no way she could hear Melanie’s raw uncertainty and mistrust and not take it at least a little personally.

What would she even say? “Sorry Georgie, I can’t sleep, I keep expecting meat people will break through the walls and try to kill us?”

“Sorry Georgie, I had a nightmare about you cutting pieces of me away?”

No. Better not to bring it up.

She put her phone on the bedside table, and turned out the light.

As the hours dragged on, Melanie rolled onto her side to look at Georgie in the dark. She’d always been a heavy sleeper, like a toddler starfished out on the rug after a long day. The kind of sleep you’d have to be completely shameless to fake.

Georgie wasn’t that good an actor. Melanie’d listened to her podcast, and… no. She got too impatient for the reveal.

At around five, her eyes finally started to grow heavier.

At 6:30, her eyes snapped open, and she froze for one heart-pounding moment before struggling out of the blankets and to her feet next to the bed, ready to-

Georgie grumbled, and pulled the discarded blankets closer. She cracked one eye open, but Melanie could barely see it under the pile of blankets pulled around Georgie’s head.

“… mrrnng,” said Georgie. She blinked a few times, eventually registering Melanie standing poised between fight and flight.

Georgie sat up, the blankets falling oddly around her waist as she squinted up at Melanie. “You okay?”

Melanie held a breath, and let it out. She willed her shoulders down, her stance relaxed. “Yeah, I- yes. Yes. I’m fine.”

Georgie gave her a searching look before pulling the blankets back, leaving room for Melanie, if she wanted to go back to sleep.

Melanie smiled tightly, shook her head, and left the room.

* * *

The second time Melanie stayed at Georgie’s, she waited until Georgie was asleep, grabbed a pillow, and went out to the living room. She tossed and stared at the ceiling for two hours before giving up and fitting herself, the pillow, and the blanket from the back of the sofa into the space behind the bookshelf. It was just big enough that her feet didn’t stick out if she curled up tightly. She pushed herself backward into the corner until it felt like the walls were cradling her, and eventually dozed off.

When she woke up, somehow more both more tired and more rested than she’d been when she fell asleep, she climbed out from behind the bookshelf, put the blanket back, and carefully placed the pillow in its original spot next to Georgie’s head.

She lingered in the doorway on her way out of Georgie’s room. Once again, Georgie was barely visible in the pile of blankets she’d accumulated in her sleep. Melanie could see hair, and a hand curled loosely around Georgie’s phone. The Admiral was stretched out in the space Melanie had occupied for about half an hour at the beginning of the night.

“It looks like you’ve got this,” she whispered. “Keep her company for me?”

He blinked, then laid his head on his paws.

* * *

The third time Melanie stayed at Georgie’s, she didn’t bother with the sofa, and went straight for the bookcase as soon as she was sure Georgie was asleep.

She slept fitfully, but longer than she had in weeks. When she finally stayed awake longer than a few minutes, it was light out. She felt warmer, and… heavy? She jolted upright, kicking her feet out and knocking the blankets away.

Wait. Blankets?

There was a second blanket over the one she’d brought with her. It was Melanie’s favorite, old and ugly and too big for Georgie’s bed by rights, but warm, and heavy enough to be grounding without making you feel held down.

So… Georgie found her in the night. And got her favorite blanket, then left her alone.

Melanie climbed out from behind the bookcase, carrying the blankets and pillow in a pile against her chest. She put the blanket from the sofa back, then paused for a moment and wrapped the heavy blanket around her shoulders. It trailed on the floor behind her as she walked back to Georgie’s room with the pillow.

Georgie was waiting cross-legged on the bed, reading something on her phone. She looked up when Melanie got to the doorway, and gave her a searching look.

“Hey. Did you sleep okay?”

Melanie looked down, pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders with her free hand, then looked back up. “I… I did. Thanks. Can… can we not talk about it right now?”

Georgie opened her mouth to say something, then stopped short. “Sure.”

Melanie let out a shaky breath and grinned, sitting next to Georgie and tossing the pillow behind them with the rest. She bumped against Georgie’s shoulder like a cat, then pulled back a little and tugged the blanket closer around her.

Georgie smiled, and angled her phone so Melanie could see. “Here, look at this. You remember Luke, from that thing I did before the podcast?”

Melanie nodded.

“I think he lost all his self-preservation instincts for good this time. He’s getting into it with people on Twitter again.”

Melanie smiled tiredly, and hooked her chin over Georgie’s shoulder. “What is it this time?”

Georgie grinned. “Well, since you asked…”

Later, Melanie would try to explain. Georgie wouldn’t understand, exactly, but she’d listen. She’d hold Melanie in a way that didn’t make her feel trapped, and choose her words more carefully than Melanie had ever seen her do. It wasn’t perfect, but she was really trying. They both were.

It was awkward, and horrible, and both of them ended up crying at least once. But it was something to build on.


End file.
